A Prayer for God to Guide

I 'stumbled' upon this passage and I put stumble in quotes because I know that the Lord led me to this because it's exactly what I needed to read. Just from reading the title alone I was like "Whaaaaaat?!? Crazy."

So I shall share with you!

I hope it resonates with you as it has for me :)

Psalm 25:1-21

A Prayer for God to Guide

 ¹ Lord, I give myself to you;
 ² my God, I trust you.
    Do not let me be disgraced;
       do not let my enemies laugh at me.
 ³ No one who trusts you will be disgraced,
       but those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
 ⁴ Lord, tell me your ways.
       Show me how to live.
 ⁵ Guide me in your truth,
       and teach me, my God, my Savior.
       I trust you all day long.
 ⁶ Lord, remember your mercy and love
       that you have shown since long ago.
 ⁷ Do not remember the sins
       and wrong things I did when I was young.
    But remember to love me always
       because you are good, Lord.
 ⁸ The Lord is good and right;
       he points sinners to the right way.
 ⁹ He shows those who are humble how to do right,
       and he teaches them his ways.
 ¹⁰ All the Lord's ways are loving and true
       for those who follow the demands of his agreement.
 ¹¹ For the sake of your name, Lord,
       forgive my many sins.
 ¹² Are there those who respect the Lord?
       He will point them to the best way.
 ¹³ They will enjoy a good life,
       and their children will inherit the land.
 ¹⁴ The Lord tells his secrets to those who respect him;
       he tells them about his agreement.
 ¹⁵ My eyes are always looking to the Lord for help.
       He will keep me from any traps.
 ¹⁶ Turn to me and have mercy on me,
       because I am lonely and hurting.
 ¹⁷ My troubles have grown larger;
       free me from my problems.
 ¹⁸ Look at my suffering and troubles,
       and take away all my sins.
 ¹⁹ Look at how many enemies I have!
       See how much they hate me!
 ²⁰ Protect me and save me.
       I trust you, so do not let me be disgraced.
 ²¹ My hope is in you,
       so may goodness and honesty guard me. 


From BibleGateway.com

Thoughts On Marriage...Please refrain from stoning till after the post. Thank You.

So I've recently started an endeavor to read through all the books Paul had written and so far it has been amazing. I love the way he writes and his thoughts on life and just his honesty about certain situations without worry about how it will upset people. He wrote truth as it came from God to him and he let that be enough which is something to envy.

But one passage in particular seized my attention. It was First Corinthians 7 where Paul takes an entire chapter to talk to the church of Corinth about :pause for emphasis: marriage. :) Now I had heard bits and pieces of this passage but never really ever read the chapter in its entirety and in context with the chapter before it in which he touches on avoiding sexual immorality. It's also very interesting that Paul basically says that if you cannot control your desires then please for the love of God get married because it's better than sinning.

I have to say that this is one of my favorite chapters because Paul really lays out his ideas on marriage which I found to be very comforting because basically he's saying it's okay to be single. And it is equally okay to be married just be prepared because it's tough. You not only have to give yourself to the Lord but you also have to give yourself to your spouse.

Paul also talks about divorce which makes complete sense to me. I don't know why there is a big fuss over the divorce topic when it is laid out right here. The next time anyone brings up the question of the Big D I will simply write down '1 Cor. 7: 10-16', hand it to said person, and walk away. There really needn't be an argument because it's in the Bible. Done.

And Paul also lays out my personal favorite: that if you are single, do not worry about being married. The Lord has you single for a reason and that is to do His work and if the thoughts of marriage are keeping you from doing the Lord's work then you need to surrender it to God. And he says that if you don't have a desire to get married that it's okay. Marriage is a gift and it is not given to everyone. Paul himself wasn't married and there was nothing wrong with it. I have a personal attachment to this statement because I myself do not have the desire to marry. There are many people who hear that and immediately judge which is especially sad in the Church. Paul clearly states in 1 Cor. 7:37 "But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry."
I think I fit the bill just fine. :)

Now, before you send me angry comments about God and marriage and hurling stones at me, please know that 1. I am not a Bible scholar nor a seminary student, nor a pastor, nor do I have the desire to be any of the three. I may be missing some things here or there but that is for the Lord to reveal to me in His timing. And 2. I believe marriage is a beautiful thing. My parents have been married for 20 years and I have watched their marriage flourish. I also have the privilege to know couples that have such a wonderful marriage and, if the Lord should change my heart, would love to have just a shadow of that sort of bond. I also know the value of it and I know that the Lord values it highly. His entire redemption plan is basically a marriage ceremony for crying out loud! I would be severely daft to ignore that.

So all in all, it's okay to be single. Just know that the Lord holds you accountable for the freedom you have and desires you to use your freedom to serve Him. And it is okay to marry because the Lord cherishes the union between a man and a woman. :)


Till Next Time...

It All Comes Down To The Bottom Lines (Post-KidJam)

Hello reality! Didn't see you there. Have you been there all this time?

So I, along with 4 other awesome leaders, just came back from Camp KidJam in Winston-Salem at Wake Forest University and to say that it was insane is an understatement. Haha! The camp was non-stop and I'm pretty sure there's some sort of time fluctuation machine being built on campus because I'm sure 3 weeks had passed.

Anyways, throughout camp I just kept getting smacked in the face. No. Not by a rambunctious child but by God. See, I always go to camp. It's what I've done since I've joined the children's ministry. There's never been an 'if' (except that one time I was on vacation :P) it has always been 'go'. But there was just something about this year at camp that was different. It was really weird because it was the first time that I really thought about camp and was so close to backing out for no real reason other than that I thought I was falling into a routine. Luckily, I didn't back out because I ended up being so blessed by the kids and by the message they were being taught. It was on this trip that I actually felt somewhat confident about leading a small group. I've always felt as though I was a horrid teacher (still think that) but knowing that although the kids were moving about, they were absorbing what I was saying and able to say it back to me. I know it was God because there was no way in heck that was coming from me! But God knew that was what I needed to hear. I needed to realize that my voice is important and that what I say has impact. It was just remarkable.

Another thing that just blew me away about camp was the way all of the bottom lines were applicable to my life.
Me.
A 19 (almost 20 :D) year old adult person.
I will list the bottom lines from camp:

God wants to do something in me that is bigger than just me...
I have to keep depending on God's power in my life...
What is important to Jesus should be important to me...
When things get hard don't forget what you know...
When I trust in Jesus He promises He will always be with me...
God wants to use me to show others the power of forgiveness... 


What. The. Crap.

When I heard the first one, I will never forget it, I was on my blackberry and when the storyteller (who tried to steal my Starbucks....) said that from the stage my head snapped up and stared at the screen. It was what I needed to hear and it took everything in me to not cry on the spot. And then it just kept going with each bottom line.

Then I got to thinking about what powerful Christ followers we are helping raise up. These kids are learning truths that I still struggle with which is awesome because they have all their lives to learn how it applies to their lives. It makes me a little jealous because I believe that if I had their knowledge about God at their age, I would have grown up with a lot less doubt in my life.

I thank God everyday that I have been put in a position that I am able to convey these truths to our kids in a manner in which they will be able to retain and gain confidence in God. I try not to think about it too much because I will start to feel unworthy but it is such an honor and I'm so grateful for Journey for allowing me to be involved. :)

Till next time...